Vampirism in Millennial Film
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something undergirding the family’s quest for financial and political power rather
than creating mythical creatures who sleep in coffins cloaked in opera capes and
change form to prey on the living. One of the intrigues of Simmons’ novel is his
periodic side-step into Dracula’s musings as the family’s patriarch readies himself
for his role in the ceremony that provides the story’s climax. Having endured a
period of ennui, Dracula comes upon a sample of a hemoglobin substitute Kate
had brought with her and discovers the new and improved version of “the sacra
ment’’ gives him what he needs without the “hormonal ragings that had so tired me
out over the ages (450).’’ This version of “better living through science’’ prompts a
renewal of the Count’s zest for life and allows him to consider exploring countries
he has yet to visit while he reaffirms his desire to live forever.
Such literary explorations of the source of vampirism tend to be more easily
drawn in the novel than in the cinema, for the novelist is seldom bound by restric
tions on the number of pages that can be filled to tell the story. Film directors
specializing in horror, however, are often faced with some form of time limitation
on their works, a trait that has been especially true in light of horror’s tendency to
be lower-budget “B” films. Additionally, such works are usually thought of as not
deserving of serious consideration by film critics and historians. Vampire films are
often looked down upon even more by the critical community because of their
slavish devotion to genre as well as the sensationalism and graphic violence they
tend to exhibit. Yet, cinema-goers have historically found that vampire films fail to
provide the origin story background that is usually taken for granted when the
focal monster is Frankenstein’s creature, a werewolf, or a mummy.
In these films we have known the monster’s origins since James Whale first
brought his rendering of the Frankenstein story to the screen for Universal Studios,
opening the narrative with Frankenstein and Fritz’s body-snatching in the local
cemetery. Likewise, backstories of Imhotep’s and Kharis’ fated loves and eventual
burial alive have traditionally been included in the mummy films, and Larry Talbot
and his successors have succumbed to the werewolf’s bite ever since Lon Chaney,
Jr. first ventured out onto the foggy moors to be bitten by Bela Lugosi’s tortured
lycanthropic gypsy.
Thus it comes as something of a surprise to find several recent films that went
out of their way to not only set down a universe of rules for their human and
undead protagonists, but also spend time establishing how their vampire(s) came
to exist in the first place. Indeed, these titles ask their respective audiences to con
sider the thematic purpose these origin stories play in each film’s mythology.
This narrative concern was initially noticeable in Francis Ford Coppola’s bigbudget production Bram Stoker's Dracula, in 1992. Deviating from Stoker’s novel,
Coppola provides the backstory in the film’s preface as Dracula’s (Gary Oldman)
origins are traced to his decision to renounce the church for whom he has fought to